Taken by Benedict Jacka
Series: Alex Verus, #3
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
really don’t know what to say about this one…good read. Another good read in a string of ’em. Jacka’s got this down–Verus and co. are back and better than before.
I really like the way that these characters are growing and the world is being built.
I feel like I should have more to say, but I don’t. Ready and waiting for the next one!
Cursed by Benedict Jacka
Series: Alex Verus, #2
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Jacka did a great job following up his first Alex Verus novel. Fated. introduced us to Verus’ world, and Cursed lives in it. With the universe so well established, Jacka can focus on this particular adventure, building on Fated.
This makes for a more exciting read–more action, more character development, more of everything we liked in the first book.
Jacka’s got us all hooked now, we just have to wait for the next hit.
Fated by Benedict Jacka
Series: Alex Verus, #1
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Britain’s answer to Harry Dresden. Well, not really. But, pretty much, yeah. Okay, his magic specialty isn’t the same as Dresden’s, but his backstory, attitudes and relationships to the magic world are pretty similar. Which means this is a fun, gripping read.
Alex Versus’ version of fore-telling is very interesting, and a type of magic that I haven’t run into before in Urban Fantasy. I’m really looking forward to seeing what else Jacka can do with it in further volumes. As well as the way he develops Versus’ accidental apprentice.
I’m not sure that my nascent arachnophobia needed a couple of scenes, but if I could get past Shelob and Aragog, I’ll get over this, too. Well, as long as a future Versus adventure doesn’t focus exclusively on that storyline…probably won’t sleep for weeks if that happens.
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Indexing by Seanan McGuire
Series: Indexing, #1.9
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Episode 9: Whiteout
Wait? That’s it? It’s over?
Sort of a let-down, honestly, after Episodes 7 and 8. But it makes sense, the story and the characters need a break to regroup, to refocus, to make sure that they (and the readers) grasp what’s going on. The pieces are moved around a bit and the stage is set for 2 chapters of rockin’ action, and I’m betting 1, or maybe half of one for dénouement.
And really, my initial reaction wasn’t fair — there was a fair bit of action, it just wasn’t as dazzling. The choice that Henry makes to save her team — and to allow them to move on and stop Mother Goose — is just as dramatic as anything that happened earlier, it just didn’t look that way. The realizations that she comes to as result of that choice, about the nature of the Narrative are really what everything’s been driving toward and will likely prove to be the key to stopping the tumult the agency finds itself in the midst of.
This episode was all Henry’s, and we didn’t get enough of Sloane, Andy or Jeff. We didn’t need a lot Demi time here, particularly when McGuire got as much mileage out of her brief appearance as she did.
Not the most obviously good episode of this serial, but a solid one, and a necessary one. Bring on the action in 10!
Q Is For Quarry by Sue Grafton
Series: Kinsey Millhone, #17
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This 17th novel in the Kinsey Millhone series is the most satisfying yet — in character, mystery, and the ongoing family story, not a mis-fire anywhere. I honestly am not sure what to say beyond that.
But let me try…
Kinsey was her typical self — a little uncertain of some personal choices, proudly defiant in them though she may be; has some good moments with Henry and the other regulars. We got to spend a lot of time with Lt. Con Nolan, and his mentor (a new character) Detective Stacey Oliphant in this investigation. I’ve always liked Nolan, and just about every time Grafton deals with another cop, I’ve wanted it to be Nolan. Oliphant was fun to get to know, and I hope she teams up with them again (maybe not in “R”, but maybe by “T”).
Okay, then we got a healthy dose of the whole long-lost family thing that’s been going on for a few books. I’m about fed up with the bickering with Kinsey and the cousins. But she meets another family member this time, and has a great conversation with her. I’ve always understood the anger that informs her interaction with the family, but she doesn’t seem to do anything with the naval-gazing it brings up. This time, there’s a touch of anger, but she moves on to something else — really appreciated that.
Okay, the mystery itself was just great. I mean really great. Watching the pieces come together, like a satisfying puzzle…perfect. On the one hand, it was just a well-written Millhone mystery. But it seemed more, it seemed (frequently) like the case was more complex than usual. There’s a mental “click” I get when clues start coming together and you can start to see what happened — and this is horribly subjective, and hard to explain, but — the “click”s this time felt more like a Harry Bosch novel than a Kinsey Millhone. Maybe it was the cold case-nature of this one. And I’m not trying to knock Grafton saying her best book (so far) is more like someone else than herself. Yeah, I think Michael Connelly crafts a better mystery, that’s not saying Grafton can’t.
To top it all off, there’s the Author’s Note at the end that tells us that this was based on an actual unsolved case, and that Grafton hoped the book and the pictures of the facial reconstruction of the actual victim in the back of the book (funded by Grafton), would help turn up new leads in the investigation. Icing on a really good cake. For details, see, “Who Was Jane Doe? True Life Subject of Sue Grafton’s Q Is for Quarry Still a Mystery” by Barney Brantingham.
Emperor Mollusk versus The Sinister Brain by A. Lee Martinez
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
What a fun read (not hilarious, as the cover implies–and I believe, Martinez tweeted he didn’t like the word)!
This tale of our solar system’s biggest supervillian, conqueror (and would-be conqueror) of planets, destroyer of armies, and uber-mad scientist reads like a semi-serious Douglas Adams book. All of the wit, all the imagination, all the “where did he get that loopy (and great) idea from?”, none of the compulsion to go for the laugh every x number of paragraphs. It’s a great look at what makes a supervillian of the evil-scientist variety tick.
I’ve read about half of Martinez’ works, and he seems to go out of his way to make each significantly different than the last–but there are certain hallmarks–they’re clever, very enjoyable, and they display an essential humanity in characters you wouldn’t normally sympathize with/think of in this way. Such a treat.
Chasing the Moon by A. Lee Martinez
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
It’s so hard to write anything about Martinez’ work, because it’s just so weird. And I mean that in a good way. Comic, but rarely laugh-out-loud; SF/Fantasy/Supernatural-ish, but approachable for those who prefer to stay away from that; books that feel like they’re the start (or middle of) a series, but are all stand-alones. One thing that connects them all is the humanity of the characters–particularly the protagonists, but not entirely reserved for them. Whether we’re dealing with supernatural creatures (vampires, werewolves, etc.), witches, aliens, robots, extra-dimensional creatures, monsters, cult leaders, or just Average Joes/Janes caught up in all of the madness–his characters have heart and humanity that shine through like nobody’s business.
In this particular tome, Diana finds the perfect apartment for her needs and budget, almost too good to be true, and jumps at it. Then she finds out that the catch to this deal is that she’s just signed on to be the one thing that stands between the world at large and a monster named Vom the Hungering, who will (one day) devour everything in sight. Hilarity ensues.
To say more would ruin this light (but not too light), engaging and very fun read. Do yourself a favor and give it a shot.
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Indexing by Seanan McGuire
Series: Indexing, #1.8
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Episode 8: Empty Nest
Hey, diddle diddle! That was something! I spent most of this episode leaning forward on the edge of my seat (surely, I’m not the only one who subconsciously believes that helps them read tense/exciting parts of books faster, am I?). Sure, I was way ahead of Henry on picking up that Very Significant Clue, but the important thing is that she grabbed hold of it eventually and ran with it. Killer episode.
From the shell-shocked reaction of the team to the events in the last episode (unlike the rest, this one picks up right from the end of the previous installment), through the bureaucratic kerfuffle that kicks up from it to Henry’s clue pickup straight through to . . . well, the end — this was Indexing firing on all cylinders.
It struck me that at this point McGuire’s developed her world enough that she can say something like this:
Birdie Hubbard lived in exactly the sort of house that you would expect a woman named “Birdie Hubbard” to live in, especially if that woman existed in a world where fairy tales were real and had teeth.
and the reader doesn’t need the 3 sentences that follow to know what kind of place the characters are at (not that McGuire was guilty of over-kill in providing them). We also are at the point where we can understand Sloane’s reaction (“somewhere midway between horrified and impressed”) to the presence of garden gnomes in Hubbard’s lawn.
Such a fun read, don’t know how she’s going to top it next week, but I’m sure she will.
Blood Bond by Jeanne C. Stein
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is not at all what I expected from the last installment in the Anna Strong series. For that matter, it’s not what I expected from any Anna Strong book. Although, in retrospect, it makes sense that this would focus on the human side of Anna’s life — her love life, her family, her friends.
Yes, there’s a supernatural storyline — almost perfunctory, and even when it takes center stage in the novel, it does so under the shadow of the personal storylines. If this wasn’t the last in the series, it would seem that Stein was introducing a large, shadowy group that Anna and her allies would wrangle with for awhile. But, that doesn’t appear to be the case. There’s a new vampire character introduced that Anna becomes awfully chummy with far too quickly for someone in her position (vague, yeah, but trying to stay spoiler-free) Again, if there were more books to come — I’d fully expect this new pal to reveal himself to be just cozying up to her to find her Achilles’ Heel. Regardless, it was a quick and painless story that really only served to keep this book in the Urban Fantasy camp.
Stein’s focus was on the human/emotional stories, giving each major character some sort of resolution as the curtain comes down (although Culebra was given pretty short-shrift) — and in each scene apart from the Vampire story, it feels like Stein is trying to channel the spirit of the mid-80s long distance telephone company commercials and make you reach for the kleenex box every chapter. Big emotional moments and conversations, a lotta lovey-dovey faces, and tears being jerked.
Which sounds like a complaint, but it’s not — somehow Stein pulls it off. It’d be easy for this to be overly-sentimental and sappy — and she gets right up to that line, but she doesn’t cross it. Granted, it’s not the kind of book that I’d want to read all the time, but it worked this time. It let her leave Anna in a good place — or at least a place she could find a measure of peace and happiness for a time. But we all know Anna well-enough at this point to know that can’t last, she’ll find trouble/it will find her soon enough. We just won’t get to see it.
The Good Cop: A Mystery by Brad Parks
Series: Carter Ross, #4
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
From the opening pages of Faces of the Gone, I could tell that Parks could tell a good story, and a compelling mystery while making you laugh. He’s only gotten better each novel since — which hardly seems fair.
Not that I’m complaining.
There were times when I thought the mystery this time was a tad predictable, but there were enough twists to keep my interest — and the way Parks writes, plus the subplots and characters made it more than enough. Parks makes me laugh out loud frequently — without turning these books into a sit-com like Janet Evanovich would. It’s real humor in the midst of suspense — like early Robert B. Parker or Robert Crais (remember when Elvis Cole was funny?)
My biggest gripe is that Parks only puts out one of these a year.
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